The legacy of “truth in sentencing” politics in Maryland, where the vast majority of people serving life sentences are Black, and how a new law could alter what it means to serve life in prison.

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Politics have shaped the parole process in Maryland for decades. In the heat of a tough-on-crime campaign in the 1990s, the state’s governor said that he would reject parole for anyone serving a life sentence, even when parole commissioners had recommended release. This policy, maintained by his successors from both parties, has left hundreds of prisoners with parole-eligible sentences to grow old and die in prison.

This changed in December when state legislators voted to push the governor out of the parole process. Rebecca Tan reports on the policy’s impact and what this change could mean for similar efforts across the country.